Member Rating

Compare Prices on Celebrity Summit Southern Caribbean Cruises

Summit 4/21-4/28/2012

Sail Date:
April 2012

Destination:
Southern Caribbean

Embarkation:
San Juan

Summit April 21-28, 2012

This was a much anticipated family cruise. Our married daughter and I booked this cruise in the middle of a snow storm in February of 2011. We booked neighboring aft cabins on the 8th floor. We planned to arrive the day before our sailing to avoid any concerns with flying in the same day.

This was our first aft cabin, and it lived up to our expectations. Our cabin was handicap accessible, 8176, and our daughters was next door, 8185. Across the hall in an inside cabin, were our two teenage grandchildren. It was our little corner of the world. We loved the views from the aft. I had read that some have had motion problems but I must say we had a very smooth sail. The noise from the Sunset Bar at night was rather loud, but with the slider closed, there was no sound. It would have been nice to have been able to open up the dividers between our decks, but this is not possible on M class ships. We used the huge decks constantly. We had our More
coffee early each morning, lunch on sea day, our 4:00 appetizers and then, before going to bed, a glass of wine or just to sit and listen to the sounds of the ocean and do some star watching as we sailed through the beautiful Caribbean. We loved the new seat/foot stool combination better than a chaise. I know it is a personal like, but we found with 6 of us often together, it was better for seating and easier to move around.

We had 2 minor concerns. The third morning both our 'wake up' coffees were not delivered. We are not sure what happened, but a delivery was quickly made after we placed a call to check on where it was. Our steward followed up on the delivery and made sure that our remaining deliveries were complete and on time. Cliff and his assistant were excellent. They were there for all our concerns. If Celebrity reads this, both Cliff and Shubert were excellent and what we have grown to expect from our Celebrity cruises.

Our second concern's solution was what sets Celebrity apart from other lines. My husband has mobility difficulties. He recently purchased a Travelscoot, which has been a godsend for us. Each port on this very port intensive cruise, he was able to get off the ship and spend a wonderful day touring the town. On our return to the ship, as usual there was someone there to help us get back on board. Unfortunately, it is very important that you get off the scoot or make sure that the from wheel is not at an angle. As my husband was trying to get off the scooter, he was pushed and the wheel bent into the axel in such a way that prevented it from moving. The end of the story is that the officer on duty immediately took the scoot and said it would be fixed. We slowly made our way back to our cabin fearing the worse. We had planned a special last night meal at Normandie, but we knew that not having the scoot would make getting there a huge problem. Well, within an hour we had the scoot back as good as new. We weren't able to find out who fixed it, but we want to send a big thank you!

Now to our last night. If you are planning on a Summit cruise, a must do is a visit to Normandie. We had given our daughter and son-in-law a meal there as a gift. They loved it so much that we all went there on Friday. But I must say that another big reason for going there is Vladimir. He had been the maitre'd for Blu last year on our Eclipse TA. What a nice surprise to see him now the maitre'd for specialty restaurants! The meal was superb, the service impeccable, and a fantastic end for a terrific family cruise.

Highlights:
*The main dining room was where we got together after a busy day. Each night Shakira had our grandchildren's favorite soda poured for them, our Sommelier Jelena was able to get Ridel glasses for our wine, and Shakan, our assistant waiter, was there to welcome us back. The waiters seemed much more busy then we remember on previous cruises. But it was always a great experience for all of us. They worked very hard to make sure that all our needs were met.
*The Thalosamy pool was pure joy. I wish all Celebrity ships had one. It was never crowded and, with the Aqua Spa Cafe, it seemed to be a hidden secret. So, don't tell too many people about it, but head there right away and enjoy.
*Bistro on 5 is one place where we always stop and this was no exception. We all had the nutella banana pistachio crepe for desert. I am so glad that it was added to Summit.
*This was by far the easiest arrival and departure of all our cruises. It took us less than 30 minutes to get on the ship. And our departure went just as easily. We waited to be called in Normandie. Celebrity had tea and coffee with pastries. Once called, we easily made our way to retrieve our luggage. We were number 6 and by 10:00 we were at the airport waiting for our airplane home. Our TA embarkation last year was a true nightmare, so this was a great surprise.

So, we didn't want to say good bye to Summit but, our daughter and her husband have booked Summit for March. Less

Compare Prices on Celebrity Summit Southern Caribbean Cruises

Cabin review: C18176

Port and Shore Excursions

The local tour guides were VERY aggressive. It may have been because we were the last cruise ship until the fall. We were told by one guide to just say that we had already booked with someone. It worked, we were left alone.

Probably our favorite port. One elderly man summed it up when he said it was his civic duty to make sure we enjoyed our visit. Everyone was so helpful and willing to share information about their wonderful island.

We walked along the path through the Marina. It was very pretty, but we decided not to go into town since there were Children Parades there. We have been to this port before, so we enjoyed our short trip on shore, but returned to enjoy the ship.